I heard on NPR during the primary an interview from an editor of Ebony Magazine regarding Obama's candidacy for President. He spoke of how part of black culture found refuge in the idea that they cannot get ahead because of oppression from "The Man". This concept, he explained, of being "beaten down" by a white man in a position of power was, for so long, at the core of African-American culture. He continued by saying that having a black man in the highest political office in America could potentially threaten this portion of their identity.
As I and plenty of my friends join the African-American triumph in getting a competent man in office of African-American origin, I suddenly think of something that SOME African-Americans, who use racism as a scapegoat as to why they cannot succeed, may not appreciate: the next time they cross my path and say "I can't get ahead because I'm black," I will simply respond "Yes You can."
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The view of the world as we know it through the eyes of a romantic, a cynic, a political scientist, a husband, a son, a brother, a lover, and a fighter.
7 comments:
Barack may be African-American, but he was raised by a white mother and father and given opportunities a typical Black man may not have because of his family origins.
On the flip side, given that a man of color now is going to be the most powerful individual on the planet, I say we kill affirmative action finally.
True, he was raised by a white mother and grandmother. However, his mother was a single mom who had to work and ended up dying early, wherein Obama then had to be moved and raised by his grandmother--someone on a fixed income, mind you. He got into Harvard on his own, and had to pay his way through school. Yes, I'm sure he had scholarships offered only to African-Americans, but that only proves that point that African-Americans within this country might still be discriminated against, but there is private-sector college funding such as scholarships which are positively discriminate as well.
As for affirmative action, I agree with you. On a side note, the minority group which statistically uses the affirmative action program the most is not the black population; it is white females.
His being black isn't the issue. It's my original point again, but I didn't get it across.
What I mean is that the work ethic he was instilled with was from his white mother; living in a white environment, not a black one. Black culture is different than white. What I'm proposing is that he got into Harvard because of his white upbringing.
And about the affirmative action- soon whites will be the minority in this country. Demographically, whites are nearing the minority in the southwestern border states becuase of hispanic and asian immigration.
To assume that Obama has a strong work ethic because of his white upbringing is a exceedingly inaccurate, and borderline racist. This logic assumes that African-Americans have a low-work ethic, which I know is not always the case. Take a look at Bill Cosby: he had the work ethic to get a Phd. and he was raised by black parents; or Collin Powell? Black parents. Condolisa Rice? Black parents. Furthermore, that statement is also inaccurate because there are some lazy-ass white people too.
This blog spoke to the fact that once, the black culture could not get ahead in this world because of a social barrier rooted in bigotry, and this was the spoken reason why many of color could not fully take advantage of the opportunities this country offers them. This trend of scapegoating lack of success on a bigoted country occurred over generations and potentially embroidered itself into the psyche of the African-American identity--all while these same barriers are being eroded away over time. Now, by-in-large, times are different; this nation has proven that all a child has to do, regardless of the color of the rest of their family, is apply themselves. And that perhaps, much like the rest of us, the explanation of failure is not pitted on another's ASSUMED character flaws.
Threaten a portion of their identity or liberate it? I think if anything the African-American is liberated by the thought that they can get ahead in this country, even reaching the top eschalon of power. At least they should be liberated by it.
Some people will choose a victim mentality no matter what, black or white.
Also, an interesting caveat: Barack is African-American in the truest sense. He is African because he is Kenyan on his father's side, and American on his mother's side. So he shares heritage that is both African and purely American (or European if you want to trace it back further). But think about this: the African-American community identifies with him because of his color (and maybe also the adversity he faced), but he doesn't share the slave narrative. Isn't that interesting? A lot of African-American oppression has arisen out of slavery, yet Barack does not have any slave ancestry. He doesn't share that aspect of African-American identity. Just an interesting thing to note.
-Marcotte
You make an interesting point! He certainly does not have that ancestry that many other African-Americans have. I never even thought of it that way.
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